Chicago Bears' Training Camp 2008
Bears' Weak Search for Franchise QB
Someone obviously forgot to mention this principle to the Chicago Bears. Last Wednesday, their first day of training camp began with flipping a coin to decide whether Rex Grossman or Kyle Orton would take their reps with the first-team offense.
Bears' Quarterback Controversy
Grossman won, and now the two hopeful leading-men will rotate honors with the first-team for the rest of training camp. Bears coach Lovie Smith plans on continuing this strategy until the starter can be determined sometime during the preseason.
Unfortunately, while this may help the spirit of competition, it will most likely offer no help to the struggling Chicago Bears.
The Bears, who followed up an NFC Championship and a trip to the Super Bowl with a 7-9 season and a trip to an early vacation, need to regain the sense of confidence and domination they once possessed only a couple years ago. Neither Rex Grossman nor Kyle Orton can accomplish that for them.
Chicago's Lackluster Quarterback Performance
Last season, Grossman suffered through a few injuries, only able to play in half the Bears’ games last season. Yet even when he wasn’t injured, he proved to be little help for their offense. He recorded only four touchdowns, alongside seven interceptions on the year, and Grossman finished only one game last year with a quarterback rating above 100, in week 10 against an even more struggling Raiders franchise.
Even when healthy in their 2006 season, Grossman barely managed to throw more touchdowns than interceptions, 23 touchdowns versus 20 receptions for the opposing team. He also managed to become progressively worse through the year, falling from a 100.9 QB rating in September to a 64.4 rating in December.
As the pressure mounted for the team, Grossman only struggled more.
Then there is Kyle Orton, the four-year veteran from Purdue who started the last three games for Chicago last season. His Quarterback rating and touchdown-to-interception ratio do not fare much better. Excluding a week 16 game against a Green Bay team with their first-round bye already secured, Orton played at a mediocre level. While one could argue that he deserves more time to establish himself a professional quarterback, the Bears are still waiting for any flashes of greatness from Orton.
Bears' Refuse to Find New QB
Neither of these men seems fit to lead a team that wants to make a playoff run. The Bears lost wide receiver Bernard Berrian to free agency, and none of their running backs were able to break the 1,000-yard rushing mark last season. This is a team that needs a playmaker, not a lesser of two evils.
And yet the franchise seems content with letting Grossman or Orton have their chance to show all their previous stats were a mirage. The Bears did not sign a veteran quarterback in the offseason, which is about the same as signing Brian Griese last year.
Poor Draft Choices
Then they proceeded to use their draft picks on almost every position but quarterback. While it is hard to blame them on making the expensive move up to the number three pick to grab Matt Ryan, the Bears had several other chances to fill the position.
They passed on Brian Brohm, Joe Flacco and Chad Henne. All three men are considered to have the potential to be starting quarterbacks, and all three were within the Bears’ reach on draft day.
Maybe the Bears know something that everyone else in the league doesn’t. Or maybe they’re content flipping coins to find their franchise quarterback.
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